Thursday, August 31, 2006

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

1) Romance novels2) Manicures and pedicures even if I just had one a week ago3) Hair Dye (I’ve tried virtually every shade.)4) Lots of lingerie, especially pretty bras and panties5) Watching E and listening to bitches bust on bad ensembles (Actually, I wish they would shut up, so I could gaze at gorgeous gowns and jewels on stars from shows I’ve never seen.), anything on the Food Network or America’s Funniest Home Videos6) Sleeping with a stuffed elephant and my silky7) Viewing porn and envying fake breasted sluts like Pam Anderson for reasons other than coveting their unmoving, gigantic implants and long acrylic nails.8) Silky, sweet and smooth Häagen-Dazs chocolate chocolate chip or coffee ice cream, steak nachos with lots of guacamole, cheese, sour cream and hot salsa--and warm, frosted apple pie. Oh, and cinnamon Churros!9) Wishing to be the intelligent, blue-eyed version of Jessica Simpson. Her voice and appearance are breathtaking.10) Criticizing women (in my head) who are skanky rather than sexy. I think that tongue, belly button, nose, eyebrow or more than two ear piercings are trashy looking. I think that multiple tattoos (most tattoos) on women are déclassé. Tacky is the word that comes to mind for women who try so hard to be hot that they wind up looking like an overly decorated Christmas tree rather than naturally beautiful.

Monday, August 28, 2006

We planned on taking a two day trip to the NJ shore over the weekend, but the weather curtailed that idea. We settled for indoor activities.On Saturday, we went to see Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. The masks and the make-up in the film were mesmerizing. Otherwise, don’t believe the hype. I don’t think that the two and a half hour film was fantastic, but my family enjoyed it. It also turned us off to the idea of seafood for dinner. A live squid head and muscles attached to barnacles on a moldy human cheek were two reasons to have cheeseburgers instead.

On Sunday, we returned to Dave & Buster’s in Northeast Philadelphia. My kids wanted to play pool and shuffle board—and lots of video games. We played for three hours and then cashed in over 3000 tickets for a handful of prizes, which we could have bought at the 1-5 dollar store for about twenty bucks. We spent about seven times that in the arcade alone. I mentioned it to my husband, but he said it was okay since we had fun winning the stuff.

I sipped a sweet, strawberry/banana margarita, while my son, daughter and husband beat me in shuffle board. Then my husband beat me in pool. It makes me proud when my children’s skill/luck exceeds my own. I have learned to expect to lose most games of skill to my husband, but I’m usually a very close second. I was too full and lazy from our diner brunch to feel competitive.I am not embarrassed to say that I had fun playing several games of skeeball in lanes next to my kids. My final scores were much higher. Moms have to win once in a while. I was even happier when I realized that they were playing 80’s music in the place. Hearing tunes from my teens brought me back to my boardwalk arcade with my best friend days. I miss them.

Monday, August 21, 2006

On Saturday, we spent part of our day in the park, after my husband and I stole an early breakfast date alone and delivered breakfast sandwiches to our sleepy kids. Activities included fishing for my daughter and husband and walking the nature trail for my son and me. My daughter caught lots of sunnies and my husband caught “a bass, a big fat bass”, as he sang over and over to our daughter. He also caught a snapping turtle. I swapped MP3 players with my son and we listened to each other’s noise and had a pleasant chat about things.

We watched the movie Benchwarmers when we came home. It was silly and somewhat amusing if you’re into watching nerds/underdogs pick boogies, get fart faced and suck then win at baseball.

On Sunday, we went to Nifty Fifties for brunch and then took the kids to Dave and Buster’s at the Franklin Mills Mall. We went neon bowling and then played cool video games. We had fun!

The kids followed up the afternoon with two hours of swimming at the local pool while my husband and I chilled on the sofa playing new downloads of the classics, Pacman and Joust, on Xbox 360--and he did Soduko. (Numbers nerd puzzles)

Then I finished a fairly boring book called Time and Again by Nora Roberts, while my husband played Ghost Recon with his “Live” buddies.

Overall we had a sunny Saturday and Sunday. (Except for the fact that I dyed my sun-bleached blonde hair with a darker semi-permanent color—Coastal Dune, which rinsed out after four shampoos and made my gold hair look slightly green. Then I dyed it Cinaberry, which started rinsing out after about five shampoos revealing pinkish strands of once yellow hair. What a mess. Now I think I’ll have to try Nutmeg, which is much darker. I want to tone down my locks for September, which I did last year, too.)

You scored as Pink. Pink represents the love for youth and this describes you very well. You have never taken life seriously and do not intend to. Instead you want to see where it leads you and just want to go with the flow. You love flirting, having fun and making the most of everything.

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Whenever I try to buy wine, I tend to choose the same bottles. I have tried to educate myself on the subject by watching wine courses and reading about it. However, I am not usually brave enough to deviate from buying familiar fruity flavors. I decided to do a little reviewing today before I head out to buy something special to go with my delicious dinner. I don't want to become a Sommelier or a wine snob, but I'd like to discover many beautifully balanced bouquets.

I love watching the Discovery Channel. I recently saw most of an enlightening special called Global Warming, What You Need to Know with Tom Brokaw. I hope that it re-airs soon, as I wasn't able to watch the whole program. I hope that it re-airs often to remind people of the precariousness of our environment--and to facilitate major changes to improve it.

Sunday, August 06, 2006

Our family of four ventured out for an early breakfast yesterday. Afterwards, my husband suggested a Sunday drive up to a quaint shopping village on the Delaware River. I decided to go despite the pain in my face and chest. We walked around in the super clear sunshine until we were glossy with sweat and our bags were filled with preppy fashions. My darling daughter wined the entire trip, since I wasn’t in the mood to suck in steam from the old fashioned engine, while chugging around the surrounding towns.

Later that afternoon, an ice cream coned soothed her tongue and our tortured ears. Then we made the mistake of wasting two hours watching Talladega Nights. We chilled in the impressively air conditioned theater and I laughed twice. My husband and my son thought it was a funny film. I wish that I hadn’t exposed my ten-year-old daughter to this moronic spoof.

I love the idea of poking fun at racing, shallow nonsense and product placement. I was just hoping for more than a couple of chuckles. Ricky Bobby (Will Farrell) strips down to his tighty whities and runs around like a maniac. He also kisses his nemesis, Jean Girard (Sacha Baron Cohen), on the lips. I was happy to see them smooch only because Jean’s annoying fake French accent was silenced for a few seconds.

My life hasn’t been too eventful this summer other than my visits to doctors and specialists, watching my daughter’s swim meets and my husband’s softball games--and waiting for my son to return from a week in Disney World and then five days in Nashville.

I took my daughter to the grocery store today, while waiting for my husband and my son to return from a volleyball tournament. A tall, attractive black man who was wearing a stunning suit approached me, as I pushed my sparsely filled cart out of the store. He smiled at me and said, “You know those scenes in a movie when you see a beautiful woman having her hair blown back from her face?" I probably had a surprised expression as I replied, “Yes.” He continued, “Well, It felt like one of those moments when I saw you walk out of those doors.” I felt a smile licking my lips, as my eyes glanced down at the floor. I whispered, “Thank you”, as my daughter followed me to my car. My posture improved a little, as I felt the strength of my long stride and the feminine sway of my hips. A full smile bloomed, as I loaded my groceries into the car.

The next time I cross the threshold of the air blasting vents, I’m sure that I will remember his handsome visage.

Now I’m drinking a leftover light beer from a poker tournament that I recently hosted for my husband and his pals. I don’t even like beer.